Norah O’Donnell: The Journalist Who Anchored CBS Through a Pandemic, a War, and a Historic Papal Interview
Norah O’Donnell spent more than a decade as one of the most prominent women in American broadcast journalism, capping a nearly three-decade career with five years in the anchor chair of “CBS Evening News.” Her tenure there included a historic sit-down with Pope Francis, live reporting from an aircraft carrier in the Middle East, and coverage of a presidential impeachment, a pandemic, and a war — before she stepped down in early 2025 to take on a new chapter of her career.
Quick Facts
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | Norah Morahan O’Donnell |
| Born | January 23, 1974, Washington, D.C. |
| Education | Georgetown University (BA, Philosophy, 1995; MA, Liberal Studies, 2003) |
| Employer | CBS News — senior correspondent, contributing correspondent for “60 Minutes” |
| Previously | Anchor and managing editor, “CBS Evening News” (2019–2025) |
| Also | Host, “Person to Person” |
| Spouse | Geoff Tracy (m. 2001) |
| Children | 3 |
Early Life and a Childhood Overseas
Norah Morahan O’Donnell was born on January 23, 1974, in Washington, D.C., into a military family whose postings took her around the world as a child. While living in Seoul, South Korea, during her elementary school years, she got her first, unlikely taste of broadcasting: recording videotaped English-language lessons for the Korean Educational Development Institute. It’s a detail she’s pointed back to over the years as an early, if accidental, entry into being in front of a camera.
Her family eventually settled back in San Antonio, Texas, where O’Donnell attended Douglas MacArthur High School, graduating in 1991. From there, she headed to Washington, D.C., to attend Georgetown University — a decision that would shape both her professional and personal life for decades to come.
Georgetown, and a Chance Meeting in a Cafeteria Line
At Georgetown, O’Donnell studied philosophy, graduating with her bachelor’s degree in 1995; she would later return to the university to complete a master’s degree in liberal studies in 2003. She has described her liberal arts education there as instilling a love of learning and curiosity that shaped how she approached journalism throughout her career.
It was also at Georgetown, during her very first week of school while waiting in a cafeteria line, that she met Geoff Tracy, the man who would become her husband. The two would go on to marry at the university’s Dahlgren Chapel years later, tying their personal story permanently to the campus where it began.
During her senior year, O’Donnell landed an internship at ABC News, working on “This Week with David Brinkley” — an experience she has credited with directly leading to her first journalism job.
Cutting Her Teeth on Capitol Hill
O’Donnell’s first professional journalism job was as a staff writer and reporter for Roll Call, the influential Capitol Hill newspaper. In that role, she covered congressional elections across the country and reported on the impeachment proceedings against President Bill Clinton — high-stakes political journalism for a reporter just starting her career. She has described seeing her name in print for the first time at Roll Call as the moment she felt she’d genuinely made it as a journalist. But print was always a stepping stone; she’s said she knew early on that she wanted to become a network television correspondent.
More Than a Decade at NBC and MSNBC
O’Donnell got her wish when she landed a job at MSNBC, the then-upstart cable news network, beginning what would become twelve years across the NBC family of networks. Her reporting portfolio during this stretch was extensive: she covered Congress as a correspondent, then moved into covering the Pentagon and the lead-up to the Iraq War, before eventually becoming a White House correspondent for NBC News.
She was reporting from the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, putting her directly at the center of one of the most consequential news days in American history. In the months that followed, she traveled extensively with then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, including on his first trip to Afghanistan after the attacks. Her reporting during this period earned her a Sigma Delta Chi Award for Breaking News Coverage for a “Dateline NBC” story titled “D.C. in Crisis.”
In 2005, O’Donnell was named MSNBC’s chief Washington correspondent. Her on-air work during this period was wide-ranging: she filled in as host of “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” served as a regular panelist on “The Chris Matthews Show,” anchored “Weekend Today,” and contributed regularly to “NBC Nightly News” and “Dateline NBC.” That combination of hard news reporting and regular anchor and panel work built the broad on-air résumé that would eventually make her a natural fit for a legacy network anchor chair.
Marriage, Motherhood, and a Poignant Family Story
O’Donnell married Geoff Tracy, a Washington, D.C. restaurateur and owner of Chef Geoff’s, in June 2001 at Georgetown’s Dahlgren Chapel. The couple went on to have three children: twins Grace and Henry, born May 20, 2007, and a daughter, Riley Norah, born just over a year later on July 5, 2008.
Riley’s arrival carries a particularly emotional footnote in O’Donnell’s career. Her name was suggested by Tim Russert, the legendary NBC “Meet the Press” host and O’Donnell’s boss at the network, who died suddenly just three weeks before Riley was born. Russert was reportedly the one who broke the news of Riley’s birth to television viewers, describing the close spacing of O’Donnell’s three children as “Irish triplets.” The moment has remained one of the more personally meaningful stories O’Donnell has shared publicly about her career at NBC.
Joining CBS News
O’Donnell joined CBS News in 2011, taking on the role of chief White House correspondent. She quickly began building her presence at the network’s flagship broadcasts, filling in for anchor Scott Pelley on “CBS Evening News” for the first time on October 10, 2011. In the fall of 2012, she was named co-anchor of “CBS This Morning,” a role she held for nearly seven years, becoming a fixture of the network’s morning lineup until her final broadcast on that program on May 16, 2019.
Anchoring CBS Evening News
Later in 2019, O’Donnell stepped into the role that would define the next chapter of her career: anchor and managing editor of “CBS Evening News.” Over more than five years in the chair, she guided the broadcast through an extraordinary run of major news events. She anchored the program in-studio throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, took the broadcast on the road for reporting trips from aircraft carriers to the Middle East, and led the network’s election-night coverage across multiple cycles. In April 2022, she extended her contract with CBS to remain in the anchor chair through the 2024 presidential election and beyond.
Among the defining moments of her CBS Evening News tenure was a historic, first-of-its-kind interview with Pope Francis for “60 Minutes” — an interview O’Donnell had reportedly been requesting through correspondence with the Vatican for nearly a decade before it finally happened. The interview won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Interview. She was also the first American journalist to travel to the Red Sea to report on rising tensions in the Middle East, anchoring “CBS Evening News” live from a deployed aircraft carrier, and she reported from Tel Aviv immediately following the October 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel. Her investigative work included a year-and-a-half-long investigation with the CBS News Investigative Unit into the U.S. military’s handling of sexual assault cases, which uncovered significant leadership failures on the issue. In 2024, she also co-moderated the vice presidential debate, adding another high-profile moderating credit to her résumé alongside her daily anchor duties.
Stepping Down From the Anchor Desk
In July 2024, O’Donnell announced she would leave the “CBS Evening News” anchor desk after that year’s presidential election to take on a new role at the network. In a message shared with CBS staff, she reflected on five years marked by Emmy, Murrow, and DuPont award wins, anchoring through the pandemic, and the historic Pope Francis interview, describing her decision as a natural point to make a change after twelve years spent anchoring daily broadcasts.
O’Donnell signed off from “CBS Evening News” for the final time on January 23, 2025, in a broadcast that included a taped tribute from Oprah Winfrey praising her body of work as anchor and managing editor. Since then, she has remained with CBS News, contributing as a correspondent for “60 Minutes” and hosting occasional “Person to Person” interview specials for CBS’s streaming platform, giving her a less daily, more flexible reporting schedule than her anchor years demanded.
A Reported Return to the Anchor Chair — and What Happened Instead
In October 2025, reports surfaced that Bari Weiss, newly installed as editor-in-chief of CBS News, was considering bringing O’Donnell back to anchor “CBS Evening News.” Ultimately, the role went to Tony Dokoupil instead, who was named the broadcast’s permanent anchor in December 2025. In July 2026, “60 Minutes” executive producer Nick Bilton announced in an internal staff memo that O’Donnell had been promoted to a full-time correspondent role for the program, formalizing her position within CBS’s flagship newsmagazine going forward.
Author and Advocate
Beyond her television work, O’Donnell has written a book, “We The Women,” and has continued to promote it through public appearances and book tour stops. She also sits on the board of directors of the International Women’s Media Foundation, reflecting a long-standing interest in supporting women in journalism that has run alongside her own on-air career.
Personal Life Today
O’Donnell splits her time between Washington, D.C., and New York City’s Upper West Side with her husband, Geoff Tracy, and their three children. Tracy continues to run Chef Geoff’s, his Washington, D.C. restaurant, while O’Donnell continues her work for CBS News as a senior correspondent.
FAQ
Why did Norah O’Donnell leave CBS Evening News?
She announced in July 2024 that she would step down from the anchor desk after the presidential election, after twelve years anchoring daily broadcasts at CBS, describing it as the right time for a change. Her final broadcast aired January 23, 2025.
What does Norah O’Donnell do now?
She’s a senior correspondent for CBS News and, as of July 2026, a full-time correspondent for “60 Minutes.” She also hosts “Person to Person” interview specials.
Did Norah O’Donnell return to anchor CBS Evening News?
No. She was reportedly considered for the role again in October 2025, but Tony Dokoupil was named the broadcast’s permanent anchor in December 2025.
What was Norah O’Donnell’s most notable interview?
Her 2024 “60 Minutes” interview with Pope Francis is widely regarded as the defining interview of her career — a first-of-its-kind conversation for an American journalist that won an Emmy Award.
Where did Norah O’Donnell work before CBS?
She spent twelve years at NBC News and MSNBC, covering the Pentagon, Congress, and the White House, before joining CBS News in 2011.
A Career Built on Range and Timing
From a Capitol Hill newspaper covering a presidential impeachment to a Pentagon hallway on September 11, and from morning television to five years anchoring one of the country’s most-watched evening newscasts, Norah O’Donnell’s career has consistently placed her at the center of major American news events. Her 2025 exit from the anchor chair closed one chapter, but her continued role at “60 Minutes” — the same program that carried her most celebrated interview — suggests her next chapter is still very much being written.
Norah O’Donnell Career
O’Donnell began his professional career with print and political coverage. Before moving to television, she wrote for and contributed to various political magazines, which helped her establish a solid basis in policy analysis and government relations. Her early work was soon recognized for its clarity and wisdom.
Her breakthrough came when she joined NBC News, where she spent more than a decade reporting on important national issues. O’Donnell worked as a correspondent for Dateline NBC and also contributed to Today, NBC Nightly News, and the network’s broad political coverage. She became well-known for her in-depth reporting on presidential elections, legislative debates, and national security problems.
Norah made a significant career change when she joined CBS News in 2011. She started as the network’s Chief White House Correspondent, reporting straight from the White House on key political happenings. Her tough questioning and accurate reporting skills distinguished her during briefings and high-profile political events.
CBS promoted her to co-host of CBS This Morning, then to anchor and managing editor of CBS Evening News, making her the third woman in history to headline a major weekday network evening broadcast solo. Under her direction, the show has reported on global crises, national tragedies, political developments, and big investigative stories. She also contributes to 60 Minutes, where she conducts in-depth interviews with global leaders, politicians, and changemakers.
O’Donnell has received several prizes over her career, including Emmys and the coveted Edward R. Murrow Award, solidifying her position as one of America’s best journalists.
